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The Utility Company Attracts $1 Million In Funding

Call it a small step for the managed services market, but a significant move for the Utility Company. The Master MSP, which works with a range of managed services providers, has attracted $1 million in financing, led by BDC Capital Inc. The Utility Company plans to use the money for a mid-market push, among other things. Here are the details.

First, a little background. During a range of recent partner events, a few MSP industry veterans have asked me to start "writing" the history of the managed services market in my free time. (Free time?) More to the point: If such a book was ever published, those industry veterans have asked me to include a chapter on Mark Scott, president and founder of The Utility Company. Scott also was co-founder of N-able.

Alas, many of us in the media (myself included) joined the managed services story a bit late. I was busy moderating CIO roundtables and conferences over at Ziff Davis, while Scott and other pundits were pioneering the managed services market. At some point, I'll catch up soon with Scott and gather some more of the back-story. I doubt I'll write a book... but perhaps there's a blog series waiting to come together.

Today's News

Fast forward to the present, and Scott is busy building the Utility Company. The company's pitch goes something like this:

"The Utility Company is a leading provider of virtual IT service and support for small and medium-sized businesses, delivering the required hardware, software and service for a monthly fixed fee per user. Our Connected Office service program provides a single point of contact to deliver and manage technology, communications and vertical line of business applications –- 95% Remote; 100% Proactive.

In order to scale the business, the Utility Company works with a range MSPs. Looking ahead, the $1 million in funding will be "utilized for sales and marketing of the company’s Connected Office (CO) service portfolio, including the upcoming CO Enterprise Program for the mid-market and the new Utility Preferred Supplier Program," according to a prepared statement.

Moving Upstream

Re-read that last paragraph again. The mid-market enterprise program represents a growing trend in the managed services market, where software providers are pushing beyond their small business heritage to engage midsize customers.

I concede: I need to dig deeper to see how The Utility Company's existing SMB services are performing. But during the conversation, perhaps I'll begin to rewind a bit with Scott to talk about the earlier days of managed services.